


stupid cupid.

by ansutazu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, hhjhdmhhm hwhere am i
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 12:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11782968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ansutazu/pseuds/ansutazu
Summary: i’m burning up inside, how come the arrows you shoot are always like this? // eichi insists that keito teaches him the basics of archery, and a wager is established. keichi one-shot.





	stupid cupid.

**Author's Note:**

> noodle man keito take my by the hand,,, 
> 
> hahah aa i really don't know how to feel about the last part of this fic, but..........anyway here we go

_The training hall’s seen better days,_ he muses to himself as he enters familiar surroundings, a bow in hand while the wood floors creak under his feet, the green-haired boy taking in the openness of the training hall and the sweet breeze that barely snuck its way into the school buildings. It was a tranquil place, what with the others members out for the day (and understandably so — they were idols, after all), the clarity of the crisp atmosphere calming him in a familiar and much appreciated manner. If he listened closely, perhaps he can hear Little John’s meows in the background — he’d visit the cats later, he decided, as he sets up his equipment in his usual places as he begins his individual practice.

He readies an arrow, skillfully taking on an archer’s stance with years of practiced ease and reaching for his quiver spilling with unused arrows. Those glasses he wore — ha, how they only sharpened his perception of the range even more! (He was not the least bit embarrassed by a notion such as that, because it was _true_.) He points the arrow to its target, the action of doing so coming so easily to him, and he takes a breath, finger preparing to let loose as gloved fingers curl around his bow —

“Fufu, Keito… ♪”

And he misses the target.

He turns around as quickly as his body allows him, a finger tenderly pushing up his glasses so that they don’t fall off from the sudden whiplash of his actions. The all-too familiar blonde (he didn’t want to see him right now, not when he was about to _unwind_ ) waves back at him once he enters his line of sight, and Keito frowns.

“What are you doing here?” He puts down his bow and places his hands on his hips, eyes and mouth expressing his overflowing contempt from just the mere sight of Eichi — but that was understandable, right? That seemed to be the collective consensus when the blonde appeared just about anywhere.

“Mmm…there’s just nothing to _do_ in the student council room, since a certain _someone_ finished the work _I_ was supposed to do today.” Eichi’s smile was all too playful, and it definitely toyed with Keito’s heart — ah, that was a little embarrassing. “Needless to say I got _extremely_ bored, so I decided to come here and accompany my dear Keito during his club activities. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you practice your archery — fufu, and the last time I’ve seen you compete seriously, you kicked a Buddha statue, didn’t you? Now, now, don’t mind me…I’ll just be observing my childhood friend’s hobbies, so carry on.”

Keito defies the emperor’s orders, this time crossing his arms sternly and straightening his back in preparation for — Eichi’s seen this a hundred times, he knows where this is going, and he’s ready to stand there for quite some time — one of his infamous lectures. “I finished all that work so you’d _go home early_ for once, so why didn’t you? Seriously, if you have the time to be at ease, you should take it — you know better than anyone that that’s what’s most important for your health, and yet you stubbornly defy what’s good for you. I’m trying to make sure you live a long life, you know — I hope that our funeral plans don’t have to come into effect anytime soon. That’s why, for the sake of that, you should _take a hint_ and _go home_.”

“Ahh, but I don’t want to…”

“You’re acting like a child.”

“Is that so? Well, you’d know that better than anyone, Keito.”

Eichi takes strides to stand next to Keito’s side now, but rather than keeping still, he picks up the bow his childhood friend had put down — all to Keito’s dismay, whose face had begun twisting in some sort of pained despair at the sight of Eichi holding a heavy weapon like that. “If you won’t keep practicing, then how about you teach me some archery instead? Hmph, I’d think it’s about time…besides, you’ve always been needlessly meddling in my own hobbies and interests, so it’s about time that I pick up one of yours. If we’re to be on equal terms, then it’d be the right thing to do.”

Keito tries to snatch the bow from Eichi, but the blonde twists the other way quickly, grinning all the while. Such playful acts — it’s like they were back in their youth again, bickering and quarreling like little boys.

“Eichi, stop being stubborn.”

“Teach me archery, Keito.”

“How incorrigible…”

“Your will’s wavering, isn’t it?”

“No — rather, I’m getting more and more _pissed_.”

Eichi turns back now, a small laugh escaping his lips. “That brief moment was a lot like old times, though you’re more quick to anger these days. You should work on that temper more, or at least loosen your grip a bit.” Yet Eichi goes against his own words, his grip tightening on the bow still in his possession, and Keito quite literally loses a few years of life. There’s _no way_ he’d be able to get those back, not when Eichi keeps resisting every instance to save his own life — ah, were those years being transferred over? Taking some sort of life force from another…he had to admit, that was pretty sly.

“You’re really not going to give that up, are you?” When Eichi shakes his head, Keito sighs in absolute defeat, and he straightens out again, this time taking command for the emperor that’d always begged to have his way. “Fine, I’ll teach you the _basics_ , but you only get to shoot _once_ after that — then you’re handing it back to me. Don’t you know my own way of unwinding is being _uninterrupted_ when I’m at practice? If you want me to listen to you — well, first of all, I’d like it if you’d also listen to _me_ — then let me have some time using my own bow too. You’re prohibiting me from ‘loosening up’ by hoarding it.”

“I can’t exactly bargain anything more with you — otherwise, you’ll just get even more mad, so I’ll happily comply for now.” Eichi nods, and he plays with the bow string, the sounds making Keito sigh in exasperation. “Well then, will you use that habit of lecturing for something useful this time? I’m ready when you are.”

“Your stance is horrific.”

“So when I ask for a lecture, I’m insulted instead? Keito, you’re too cold.”

Keito demonstrates, and Eichi follows, joking about how he feels as if he’s going to topple over with such a position (“If you do, I’m sending you home,” Keito replied swiftly, to which Eichi said, “Relax, I was just exaggerating — I’m a seasoned idol, so even with my hinderances, I can still stretch my body to its limits, whether you want me to or not”).

“Ah, hold on.” Keito pulls an extra glove from his pocket, tossing it to his friend. “Put this on your hand — it’ll protect your hand when you’re shooting. It’s my spare one, but regardless, it’ll probably fit your hand, too. Ah, but this time, don’t forget to give it back — who knows when I’ll need that. Things get scattered here easily…it’s probably the other members.”

Eichi fumbles with the glove, but he manages to put it on triumphantly, all while staying in the correct stance. Then Keito gets out of the stance he’s so used to slipping into easily, taking strides to position himself this time behind Eichi; from there he takes the boy by surprise by grabbing both his arms, Keito’s hands gruff with powder, and he stretches Eichi’s arms out wide and slowly takes hold of both his hands, a stern look on his face that Eichi can’t quite see but from the corner of his eye (and it was from that view that the blonde figured that Keito was undeniably closer than he should be, face hovering so close to his, but he doesn’t say anything about the close proximity, because he actually finds the heart-pounding distance to his liking).

“Keito — ”

“Teaching you will go by faster if I do this. Hold the bow properly, Eichi — there’s the grip right there.” Eichi follows his instructions with grace and elegance, having seen Keito do this a million times but never really experiencing it for himself until now.

“Now…” Keito then takes an arrow from his quiver, handing it to Eichi from behind his shoulders. “There should be a point on the string that’ll show you where to put the feathered end of the arrow. Hold it there, and then draw the string back slowly.”

Though there’s instructions coming out of Keito’s mouth, his hands guide Eichi’s into practiced movements. Keito’s voice rings in Eichi’s ear, strict yet gentle, and he wasn’t quite sure what had overcome the both of them, to suddenly stay silent about this small amount of distance between them. (In reality, such a thing was certainly dizzying, but there also an erupting warmth that conquered such embarrassment, a feeling budding in flowers neither had really wanted to bloom, knowing the name far too well at this point).

“Get your arrow in this area, and put your hand like this” — to which Keito not only demonstrates, but he makes sure Eichi’s own hand matches it, so that the arrow now sits tentatively on top of Eichi’s finger — “before anything else. Good.”

“The way you shoot it — don’t you have to go around?”

“Yes.” Ah, his voice tickles, brushing hair across his cheeks slightly. Keito guides him through the motions again, slowly, unwilling to hurt Eichi — and in turn, his gestures give off a gentle feeling, something that sway Eichi’s sporadic heart. “It goes over your head as you position it — oi, don’t go on your own pace, I’m guiding you here — and then you shoot.”

And when the movement is done, an arrow is fired to the target, barely missing the bullseye.

“Ah, look, that wasn’t so bad!” Eichi’s excitement radiates a heat that penetrates even Keito’s own heart, and he thinks to himself that such enthusiasm was actually kind of cute. He lets go of Eichi’s hands — _too soon_ , Eichi muses silently — and lets out the smallest of smiles, because such eagerness from him was simply charming, simply a sign that he’s living his youth properly. It disappears quickly, though, when Eichi turns around to look at Keito. “That was my practice shot, right? I know you said I’d only be able to shoot once, which I’m going to take right now, but…I’d like to make a wager, if you’ll let me. It’s not for extra shots, I promise — relaxation such as this is important to you, no? Rather…if you get a better mark than me when you take your first shot, then you’ll have to go out with me.”

Wait a minute.

“Eichi, hold on — ”

Eichi laughs again, and those genuine emotions sparkled in his blue eyes, making Keito curious as to what he’d say. “You’re going to say it’s unfair because you’re more experienced, aren’t you? Fufu, that’s why I did such a thing, the reverse of what anyone would do…but that’s because I like you, Keito. You've always looked cool when you’re doing archery, don’t you know? As a little kid, I admired the fact that you looked strong…hm, a part of me wants to be selfish and say you looked strong because you took all of my burdens.”

He pauses, taking a minute before truly getting to his point. “We’ve always been close, haven’t we…but I’m a greedy ‘emperor’ who only wants more, you know — the word ‘friend’ just doesn’t exactly cut it anymore. Though I want to give back pieces of your dreams back to you, if I do this…I might end up stealing some again because of my illness, but I’ll give them back two-fold this time. Keito, I’d just like to be with you with whatever future happens to await us, if you’d let me.”

There’s no hesitation, because Keito’s known his answer the minute Eichi had uttered the words ‘I like you’. He takes another arrow and hands it to Eichi, purposely brushing hands, and this time, his own smile is playful, though he hides it from Eichi by dipping his head. “I have an answer, but I’ll go along with this bet, too. There’s no doubt I’ll win, though.”

“Ah, so now Keito’s acting cool…” Eichi follows what Keito had taught him, and shot the arrow as quickly as possible, this time just barely hitting the white mark of the target. He laughs gently, and while handing Keito the bow, he says, “Your turn, Keito.”

Keito positions himself, going through the motions as usual, but stops short just before he shoots. He turns to Eichi, and this time he reveals that smile of his, small in size yet overflowing with something that shakes Eichi’s soul with warmth. “You’ve always had your share in my future, so needlessly rambling about such a thing was no good. Really, you’ve taken up too much from that unit member of yours…well, my answer is simple.”

When he lets go of the arrow — bullseye. The same thing. ‘I like you’.

From behind the both of them — Eichi had lunged at Keito, trapping him in a hug, something he’d wanted to do for a while, now as a newly-made lover to his childhood friend who’d shared the same feelings as him after all (it was a spur of the moment gesture, both running on high levels of affection long secluded and just now being released, and they’d feel the aftereffect of ‘embarrassment’ later) — Little John purrs, her kittens trailing behind her swishing tail. There’d be no doubt that they’d find the cats after, and Eichi, who’d never seen them before, would insist on spending some time playing with them.

Keito wouldn’t get much practice in that day, but spending the rest of those hours with Eichi and the archery club’s cats relieved just as much stress as releasing a multitude of arrows from his bow.


End file.
